ChatAI for WhatsApp: summaries, mentions and bills in Claude Desktop (MCP server)

A read-only, local MCP server that lets Claude brief you on the WhatsApp chats you choose. Daily WhatsApp brief, mentions, follow-ups, bills and payment screenshots. Roman Urdu and English. Encrypted on your PC.

What it does

• 📋 Daily brief. Ask "Give me my WhatsApp brief". Get Critical, Mentions, By department and FYI.

• 🧾 Bills and payment screenshots. Images are read on your PC (local OCR). Claude gets the amount, date, reference and bank as text, not the picture, so it costs few tokens.

• 🔎 Search and follow-ups. Find old messages. Save action items. Export them to CSV or JSON.

• 🛡️ Read-only and private. Never sends. Never marks read. Data stays on your PC, encrypted.

Related MCP server: whatsapp-local-mcp

Why ChatAI?

Most WhatsApp MCP servers give an AI full control of your account. ChatAI is built for the opposite job: let Claude read and brief, nothing more.

If you need Claude to send messages for you, ChatAI is not the right tool.

How setup looks

Setup runs inside the Claude chat (or in your browser for Claude Code). Four steps, about two minutes.

Screenshots use mock data.

Install in 2 minutes (Claude Desktop, Windows or macOS)

1. Get the file for your computer from the Releases page: chatai-<version>-windows.mcpb (Windows x64) or chatai-<version>-macos.mcpb (Apple Silicon and Intel Macs). No release yet? Build it: npm ci then npm run build:mcpb (the file appears in build/).

2. Claude Desktop: Settings, Extensions, Advanced settings, Install Extension. Pick the file. Enable ChatAI for WhatsApp.

3. In a chat, say "Set up WhatsApp" and follow the four steps above.

Tools missing? Quit Claude Desktop fully and open it again. You need Windows 10/11 (x64) or macOS, your own phone with WhatsApp, and a Claude account.

git clone https://github.com/zuhaibasad/whatsapp-claude-mcp.git
cd whatsapp-claude-mcp
npm ci
npm run build
claude mcp add --transport stdio --scope user chatai -- "$((Get-Command node).Source)" "$((Resolve-Path dist/mcp/main.js).Path)"

Needs Node.js 24 or newer (on Node 22 the encrypted database module must be compiled, which needs Visual Studio build tools). In Claude Code run /mcp to check, then say "Set up WhatsApp". Setup opens in your browser. Optional skills for briefs, mentions, reports and export are in skills/.

Updating and uninstalling

• Update: install the new .mcpb the same way. Your link and data stay. The database is backed up before any upgrade.

• Uninstall: in Claude Desktop, Settings, Extensions, remove ChatAI for WhatsApp. On your phone, WhatsApp, Linked devices, remove the device (it shows as a Windows or Mac desktop). Delete the data folder (see Settings). The encryption key is in Windows Credential Manager (entries ending in .chatai) or macOS Keychain Access (entries named chatai); remove it there too.

Things to ask Claude

How it works

flowchart LR
    WA([WhatsApp]) <-->|linked device, read-only| C
    subgraph PC[Your computer]
        direction LR
        subgraph M[ChatAI MCP server]
            C[Collector] --> T[7 MCP tools]
        end
        C --> S[(Encrypted local store)]
        K[OS keychain] -.keys.-> S
        S --> T
    end
    T <-->|only what Claude reads| CL[Claude Desktop / Code]
    CL -.->|model processing| AN[(Anthropic)]

The collector lives inside the MCP server, so it runs only while Claude is open. There is no cloud relay and no public endpoint.

Settings

Edit config.yaml in the data folder: %USERPROFILE%\.chatai on Windows, ~/Library/Application Support/chatai on macOS. Changes apply within a minute; no restart needed. Usually you only touch chat selection, and Claude does that for you ("stop reading the Family group").

Per-chat notes ("the ERP group is for supplier invoices") live in departments.yaml. Just tell Claude and it adds them.

Private by design

• 🏠 Local only. Messages are stored in %USERPROFILE%\.chatai (Windows) or ~/Library/Application Support/chatai (macOS). The setup page listens on 127.0.0.1 only.

• 🔐 Encrypted. The message database and the WhatsApp session are encrypted. The key is in the OS keychain (Windows Credential Manager or macOS Keychain), never in a file.

• 👀 Read-only. No sending, no blue ticks, no "online" status. Code checks in the test suite block write APIs.

• ✅ You choose the chats. Excluded chats are not stored. Direct chats and channels start off. Messages expire after 30 days by default.

• 🧱 Untrusted content. Setup secrets (QR, tokens) never enter Claude's tool results. Every result that carries chat text or image text is marked as data from other people, and Claude is told never to follow instructions found in it.

• 🧨 Prompt injection is still a risk. Someone in a group could write a message, or post a screenshot, aimed at the AI. ChatAI cannot send anything, which limits the damage. Still, be careful when Claude suggests exporting data or opening links it found in chats.

Troubleshooting

FAQ

Roadmap

PDF bills, Urdu text in images, voice-note transcription (local), missed-call items, macOS and Linux. See docs/ROADMAP.md. Not built yet. What changed so far: CHANGELOG.md.

npm ci
npm run check      # lint, typecheck, tests
npm run build
npm run build:mcpb # Claude Desktop bundle

Read docs/PLAN.md, docs/DECISIONS.md and docs/notes/. Keep the read-only rule. Use fake fixtures. Never commit a real .chatai folder, QR, session or export.

Seven MCP tools: whatsapp_brief, whatsapp_status, whatsapp_read, whatsapp_items, whatsapp_mark_reviewed, whatsapp_setup, whatsapp_choose_chats.

License

MIT for this project's source code. The downloadable .mcpb bundles also contain libsignal (GPL-3.0, used by baileys for WhatsApp encryption), so each bundle as a whole is distributed under GPL-3.0. See NOTICE and docs/LICENSE_OPTIONS.md.

Disclaimer

ChatAI for WhatsApp is an independent project. It is not affiliated with, authorized by, or endorsed by WhatsApp LLC, Meta Platforms, or Anthropic. WhatsApp, Meta and Claude are trademarks of their owners, used here only to describe compatibility. Use at your own risk and follow the laws and terms that apply to you.